1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle brake cable equalizer for connecting a main actuator cable to a pair of brake actuator cables.
2. Prior Art
Vehicle parking brakes for the rear wheels of a vehicle are commonly actuated by means of a mechanical cable connection extending from the forward section of the vehicle to the rear wheels of the Vehicle. At the forward end, the brake cable is connected to a manually operable device such as a hand lever or depressible pedal actuated by the driver after the vehicle has been parked in order to insure that the vehicle will not inadvertently move from its parked location. The cable structure normally includes a single main actuator cable extending from the manual actuator towards the rear of the vehicle on the upper surface of the vehicle floor. A pair of cables extend from the rear wheels forwardly of the vehicle on the underside of the vehicle floor. An opening is provided intermediately forward and rearward ends of the vehicle floor for passage of the brake actuator cables therethrough into connection with the main actuator cable. These cables are connected together by means of the brake cable equalizer. The function of the brake cable equalizer is to make sure that the tension exerted against each of the brake actuator cables is the same. This is accomplished by permitting a small amount of pivoting of the equalizer which occurs until the tension on each brake actuator cable is equal.
Difficulty has been encountered in the process of connecting the brake actuator cables to the equalizer. The brake actuator cables are inserted through openings provided in the vehicle floor to a position where the ends thereof are on the upper surface of the vehicle floor. The assembler, who is inserting the cables from below through the vehicle floor, cannot see the brake equalizer and thus must be able to make a "blind" connection. Otherwise, it is necessary for the assembler to leave his position on the underside of the vehicle floor and enter the vehicle in order to grab the ends of the brake actuator cables and make the desired connection to the brake cable equalizer which is located on the upper surface of the vehicle floor. As will be appreciated, such movement of the part of the assembler is time consuming and results in a higher assembly cost. Also, if the connection could not be made from the underside of the vehicle, it would be necessary to delay laying the vehicle carpet until after the connection was made on the upper side of the vehicle floor. It is therefore desirable to provide means permitting the assembler to make the connection to the equalizer from his position on the underside of the vehicle floor.
This is accomplished in accordance with the present invention by providing a vehicle brake cable equalizer and method for installation which permits the blind connection of the brake actuator cables with the equalizer from a point beneath the vehicle floor without the assembler actually seeing the connection being made.